Bluegrass and the Bee Gees

Skaggs' Majestic show will include songs he recorded with Barry Gibb.

Updated 1:36 pm, Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Ricky Skaggs will perform with his band Kentucky Thunder on Sunday at the Majestic Theatre.

Ricky Skaggs will perform with his band Kentucky Thunder on Sunday at the Majestic Theatre.

Photo: Joe Howell, Associated Press

Bluegrass and the Bee Gees

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Ricky Skaggs' new album released last week features a special guest — Barry Gibb, the last surviving brother of the Bee Gees — and the progressive bluegrass pioneer recalls some special times with him.

Skaggs, who will perform with his band Kentucky Thunder at 7 p.m. Sunday at the Majestic Theatre, loved a song Gibb wrote, “Soldier's Son,” which laments poor soldiers dying for human folly.

Gibb, known for disco hits such as “Stayin' Alive” and “Night Fever,” jumped at the invitation to join him on the song, chartering a plane and refusing Skaggs' offer to pay his expenses.

“I'm sure he doesn't just hop on Southwest like I do,” Skaggs said. “While he was here (in Nashville) recording, I mentioned I would love for him to come out and do a guest appearance we do every year at the Ryman Auditorium.”

A couple of weeks later, Gibb called to say he would, and Skaggs asked him what he thought about appearing the next night at the Grand Ole Opry.

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“Barry said, ‘I wanted to be on that stage standing behind that microphone that says WSM Grand Ole Opry. You'll never know what that means to me,'” Skaggs said.

They worked up four songs to do together, including “Soldier's Son” and a bluegrass take on the Bee Gees' megahit “How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.” It brought the house down at the Ryman and the Opry.

Skaggs is causing a stir, too, with dozens of radio and TV appearances coinciding with the release of “Music to My Ears,” his first all-new album mixing country, bluegrass and progressive bluegrass in more than three years. It includes new songs and fresh interpretations of bluegrass standards.

“It's crazy,” he said. “People are excited with this new record like I haven't had one in 10 years, but I have. I think people are really ready for this. It's as bluegrass as I'm going to make it but with two or three country things done in an acoustic, bluegrass version. Those songs could have been great country songs with piano, drums and steel guitar, but it's a really good record.”

While he includes new material, such as Gibb's song and a Skaggs instrumental, he pays tribute to the late bluegrass pioneers Bill Monroe and Doc Watson, both close friends.

Skaggs was recording songs for “Music to My Ears” in May when he heard Watson, known for his flat-picking guitar style, had died. The next day, he told the musicians they were adding “Tennessee Stud,” Watson's best-known song.

“In a way, it was hard to say goodbye to somebody like that,” Skaggs said. “We really wanted something that would honor him and let my fans know how much he was loved and appreciated.

“You may get only one Doc Watson in a lifetime. The body of work he left is a primer on how to play guitar, from the first grade through college.”

An anecdote about Monroe, the Father of Bluegrass Music, inspired Skaggs to co-write “You Can't Hurt Ham.” The story goes that Monroe was heading to a gig on the tour bus and went to sleep without eating dinner.

“Mr. Monroe woke up about midnight hungry as a bear, and when he woke up, everyone woke up — he didn't have good bus etiquette, I was told,” Skaggs said. “The banjo player told him he had some old biscuits and ham from several days ago. Mr. Monroe told him, ‘Bring me that sack. You can't hurt ham.'”

The result is a traditional bluegrass send-up to a humorous tribute to down-home cooking.

Last week, Skaggs, 58, was presented the Cliffie Stone Pioneer Award, which honors groundbreaking country artists, at the Academy of Country Music Honors at the Ryman Auditorium.

Known for his clear tenor and virtuosity on guitar, mandolin, fiddle and banjo, Skaggs at 7 appeared on TV with Flatt & Scruggs. Over 50 years of playing music, he has recorded more than 30 albums, scored 12 No. 1 hit singles and 14 Grammys.

“I'm looking forward to coming to the Majestic Theatre,” he said. “It's such a great old theater, and I've wanted to play it for so long.”

He plans to include songs from the new album plus his country, bluegrass and gospel hits.

“I love to tell the story of bluegrass, talk about my folks and what a great dad I had and how he helped me with instruments,” Skaggs said. “It's a fun show. I try to lift people's spirits and give people hope. I'm not ready to give up on America.”

John Goodspeed is a freelance writer. Email him at john@johngoodspeed.com.